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John Malone named Live Nation interim chair

Barry Diller officially resigned at Thursday board meeting.

NEW YORK -- Live Nation Entertainment said Friday that its board has named John Malone interim chairman, effective immediately.

The decision came after IAC CEO Barry Diller recently decided to step down as Live Nation chairman, as The Hollywood Reporter first reported. Diller will remain on the board.

Malone has been on the Live Nation board, and is also chairman of Liberty Media, the biggest shareholder of the company.

"Barry Diller made his resignation official at a board meeting yesterday afternoon, and Dr. Malone agreed to serve in an interim capacity to permit the board adequate time to select a new chairman," Live Nation said in a statement Friday.

Malone recently said that Diller's urge to to step down can be blamed on his getting sucked into discussions about competing interests of different parts of the business.